The Athlete Tough Program

I was really blown away with some of the tools that this program provided us. It really was a fantastic supplement to our physical training. It allowed the players to get a greater mental training and really become well-rounded athletes and people. They used this program on and off the field and I found them talking about it in all areas of their life, which I think is a testament to how effective this program really was. We’re really grateful that Athlete Assessments developed this program and we can’t say enough about it. Thanks again for helping the Hawks become ATHLETE TOUGH.

It is relevant and directly applicable to the high school student athletes that I am working with. When the opportunity to be a Character Coach came up at the high school where I’ve taught, and coached (football and wrestling) at for many years, I was very excited as I knew this was an area of great need. After a few meetings with the football teams I realized I needed a curriculum to address the many issues that needed to be covered. Fortunately, I stumbled upon ATHLETE TOUGH, ordered it and implemented in right away. It has been and continues to be a key part of our ever-expanding Champions of Character program.

The biggest positive about the Athlete Tough Program is the short activities it gives chapter to chapter. This Program isn’t just about the theory behind improving athlete toughness. It gives you things along the way to help build toughness and put the theories and facts to work. This really helped me to be able to use consistent language with our players when talking about being Athlete Tough. There are a lot of different programs out there, but I have already found this to really help to make the language consistent between athletes and myself when we talk about being tough throughout our next season.

I like the fact that I can reuse the video’s over and over. I also like how the video is broken down into short videos so the players can focus on one aspect.”

“We used the videos as a starting point for our team discussions and then related the concepts to our own specific areas of need.

Our athletes loved working through the book with the coaches. We used Saturday mornings to go through one or two chapters with the coaches facilitating the sessions. There was a marked difference in the team dynamic and resiliency during the season, and there were even one or two times when I actually stopped myself from getting angry at a situation by using the very things we’d taught the athletes. This is for real! And I hope my team is the only one in the country that uses it because it is for sure an advantage to have mentally tough athletes…

The best part about the program was gaining an understanding of what being ATHLETE TOUGH means. Being tough isn’t always trying harder, but its about self awareness and an understanding of many different areas where you can be tough.

The ATHLETE TOUGH Program helped me in coaching our athletes and helping them understand themselves better. We talk a lot about being tough, but this gave me different avenues to discuss with them.

The program has been awesome. The players are really buying in to the activities and taking accountability of what they want out of the program. We use the book and do weekly lessons about certain topics that the team will discuss as a group.

I loved this series! I love everything about it from the videos to the models to the activities.

The best aspect for me as a college coach were the models and examples Bo used in many of the videos. I love Bo’s ability to direct and concise with his videos. Simple, direct and to the point!

The Athlete Tough Program gave each player on my team a different way of thinking about how they approach their sport. And while not every concept was applicable to the sport of golf, we found ways to be creative and adapt it to our team needs.

Furthermore it gave our team a chance to really talk through how we each handle situations out on the golf course. The more experienced players were able to provide some great insight for the newer players.

Your handbook and videos are excellent. North Central Elite Archers had an elite camp with 24 archers in attendance and I played the chapter 2 video. We then discussed how mental toughness was at the hub, not technical skills. In their mind technical skills was at the hub. We then practiced chapter 9 breathing strategies, followed by chapter 14 where we created some of our own Holistic Cue Words. I always re-read and review chapters to help me teach mental toughness to all my archery athletes. Thank you for one of the best (if not the best) products I’ve found for teaching and improving athletes mental skills.

I thoroughly enjoy the way the material is presented. You can take a small section of a chapter and it provides immense value when discussing with young athletes, particularly the references relating to being a good team member.

The self reflection is such a powerful tool, particularly when put alongside the coach reflection scores. The variety of activities and videos that keep delivering a strong message to young athletes (of which we have plenty here at Hills Sports) are truly excellent.

Thank you Bo and the team at Athlete Assessments for this wonderful resource. I refer to it on almost a daily basis.

Love this curriculum, it has really been something applicable our athletes can use in both practices and races on a daily basis, but also in their day-to-day lives. I really feel it’s helping them grow as independent, self-assured young women in this world, it’s really having an impact on them in a big way. Thank you for all of the work you all do with Athlete Assessments day in and day out. Your work is really making an impact on a lot of people in a steady, powerful way.

We have been using ATHLETE TOUGH for 6 weeks now and our athletes are really enjoying it. The activities are really making them think and grow. After each activity we talk about how we can or did apply in practice or a scrimmage. We especially appreciated the Navy Seals chapter. Many of the athletes have expressed that they have never thought about many of the questions before and as we know, becoming aware is the first step in the process of becoming a champion.

The best aspect of the ATHLETE TOUGH Program was the organization of the topics. The program spurred great conversation amongst our team and helped me to lead some necessary topics to cover as a team.

I love how the videos and the workbook go together. I think the tips are easy to understand and implement for the athlete. Results for the athlete are quick because of this.

We loved that the chapters were broken into bite sized morsels with specific challenges to do throughout the week. We enjoyed systematically working through the book on a weekly basis and building on what we learned the week before. How did it help you?: Most people say they want their teams to be 'tougher', but don't have the tools in place to make it happen. Athlete Tough provided tangible ways to help improve our mental skills and gave us a common vocabulary to return to when we need it.

The Athlete Tough program is very well designed and appropriate for any level of mental toughness. This is something I wish I had when I was a collegiate athlete. Incorporating the Athlete Tough Program was a stress reliever that allowed my athletes to develop a sense of calm and toughness they didn't think they had. Each exercise aligned with what we needed to focus on for that week and opened the door for a lot of "a ha" moments. I would 10/10 recommend this program to anyone.

“I have worked with Athlete Assessments across my experience as a netball coach in Australia and Singapore, and a Touch Football administrator and coach developer, and I highly recommend this resource for coaches and athletes, and administrators to support your programs. It helped provide a resource that created common language, practical solutions to support mental resilience and development, and things relevant in training, game performance and also importantly life outside of sport. The real life examples, exercises, and evidence based information shared (was the best part). The variety appeals to all athletes in a way that resonates for them individually, and also for coaches working alongside."